- Villa Poppaea
Infobox World Heritage Site
Name = Archaeological Areas of Pompeii,Herculaneum , andTorre Annunziata
infoboxwidth= 250px
State_Party = ITA
Type = Cultural
Criteria = iii, iv, v
ID = 829
Region = Europe and North America
Coordinates = coord|40.753|N|14.453|E|display=inline,title
Year = 1997
Session = 21stThe Villa Poppaea is a Roman villa situated betweenNaples andSorrento , in southernItaly , which dates from the early Imperial period.The villa is a large structure situated in the Roman town of
Oplontis (the modernTorre Annunziata ), about ten metres below the modern level. It was owned by the EmperorNero , and used by his second wifePoppaea Sabina , as her main residence when not in Rome. The archeological evidence suggests that at the time of the eruption ofVesuvius in 79, the villa was empty, being in the process of rebuilding and redecoration, possibly in the aftermath of the earthquake of62 . Nero had killed Poppaea in 65; according to Suetonius, by kicking her in the abdomen when she was in late pregnancy.The frescos decorating the walls are among the best preserved, both in form and in colour, of all Imperial Roman frescoes; the roof of the building largely survived the eruption, thus affording protection from the elements. The frescoes are in the Pompeiian Second Style, with feigned architecture with windows that seem to open onto views or perspectives of "
trompe-l'oeil " colonnades, ambitious undertakings that, after Rome's demise, would not be equalled in Italy until the fifteenth century.Though the site of the villa was rediscovered during brief excavations carried out by Francesco La Vega in the eighteenth century, the swimming pool, which measures 60 by 15 meters, was not unearthed until the 1970s. The villa's gardens have been discussed by Wilhelmina F. Jashemski, "The Gardens of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the Villas Destroyed by Vesuvius" (New Rochelle 1979) and the forty-five sculptures found at the villa were discussed by Stefano De Caro in "Ancient Roman Villa Gardens," Elizabeth Blair MacDougall, editor (Dumbarton Oaks Colloquium 10, 1987).Nearby is the more recently discovered Villa of L. Crassius Tertius. found in 1974. A bronze seal found at the site gave the name of its last owner. This villa, which contained a large number of
amphora e, was not deserted at the time of the eruption: beside the bodies of the unfortunate victims, coins and jewellery were also found.References
*
Suetonius , "Life of Nero"
*Aurelius Victor , "Book of the Caesars 5"External links
* [http://www.auav46.dsl.pipex.com/p97.htm Oplontis: Villa Poppaea]
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